"Living in a dream world is far from ideal"

An extreme view of the future lies in this science fiction
adventure, one in which the world is experiencing an
extinction event and a company called NIRVANA provides a
refuge. By working for the company, people can earn food,
space, and
money which they can spend in alternate
reality suspension, dreaming happily about better times or
exciting adventures. Nirvana, though, is far from benign.

These days people die before the age of fifty, but the
wealthy few arrange nanobot tech and uploaded brain scans
in order that they won't die. Larissa Kenders has been an
animal rights protestor and a punk rock singer. Aged
seventeen, she is the latest girlfriend of one of the
Nirvana programmers. Andrew is a decent guy, making good
money but trying to steer an honourable course. His bosses
want more
wealth and control, as if they didn't have
enough already. When some people come out of the alternate
reality machines, a light flashes red, and they are taken
away from society. Larissa and Andrew work - secretly as
they are always observed - to stop these disappearances. Of
course, sooner or later, they will be caught.

The tale is set in a future America - University
of Texas is mentioned, but Canada and France are as badly
affected, if under less fascist rule. We learn that when
the bees died
out, crops could not be pollinated and the soil became
impoverished. The world could not support the same amount
of people. The seeming
impossibility of the bee die-out being deliberately
engineered is one of the issues which confronts Larissa.
For much of the book she is alone, unsure of whom to trust,
making the story feel claustrophobic and jumpy as she hunts
for evidence.

I didn't like that the book NIRVANA ends on a deliberate
cliffhanger, as readers should decide if they want to
follow
a series without being forced to read the next book to find
out how the adventure goes. This is the first in
the Nirvana series by J.R. Stewart, with a great
deal of
imagination behind the dystopian world and a warning for
people today. Young adult readers who enjoy futuristic
reads will find it exciting and memorable.

SUMMARY

When the real world is emptied of all that you love, how
can you keep
yourself from dependence on the virtual?

Animal activist and punk rock star Larissa Kenders lives in
a dystopian
world where the real and the virtual intermingle. After the
disappearance of her soulmate, Andrew, Kenders finds solace
by escaping
to Nirvana, a virtual world controlled by Hexagon. In
Nirvana, anyone’s
deepest desires may be realized - even visits with Andrew.

Although Kenders knows that this version of Andrew is
virtual, when he
asks for her assistance revealing Hexagon’s dark secret,
she cannot help
but comply. Soon after, Kenders and her closest allies find
themselves
in a battle with Hexagon, the very institution they have
been taught to
trust. After uncovering much more than she expected,
Kenders’ biggest
challenge is determining what is real – and what is
virtual.

Nirvana is a fast-paced, page-turning young adult novel
combining
elements of science fiction, mystery, and romance. Part of
a trilogy,
this book introduces readers to a young woman who refuses
to give up on
the man she loves, even if it means taking on an entire
government to do
so. Are you ready to enter Nirvana?